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San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom made it a goal to provide a free or inexpensive citywide network last year and bids were submitted by competing firms this Friday, mostly by ISP companies. The big news is Google’s bid to install a free Wi-Fi network.

As part of its 100-page bid, Google said it could install a Wi-Fi network without cost to the city. Users with Wi-Fi-enabled computers could then log on to basic service, without paying, no matter where they are within the city limits.

The speed of basic service would be 300 kilobits per second, which is much faster than dial-up Internet service but slower than some broadband.